2017 Best of Hand Tools

Seems that each year more folks discover the allure of unpowered hand tools. Using a properly-balanced tool that can swiftly achieve results, without needing to be plugged in, is wildly satisfying. Here's a look at some of our faves for 2017:

Wera makes this handy racheting driver bit with onboard storage called the Kraftform Kompakt Pistol RA. Click on the link to see the nifty GIF of how it pops open:

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A design that looks newfangled, but which actually dates back to 1975, is the assisted-splitting Chopper1 Axe:

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An unusual tool the likes of which I'd never seen, but which leathercarvers all know, is the swivel knife. Click the link to see how it operates, it's pretty darn cool:

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Lastly, using a lot of different hand tools without some way to secure the workpiece in place would be impossible. Journalist and woodworker Christopher Schwarz resurrected a forgotten 17th-Century design for a workholding device that has now become one of my most useful purchases, the Moxon Vise.